Royal Project

10.15.129:37 AM ET

Queen to Build Low-Cost Housing Project at Balmoral

Families to help in build to 'keep costs down'.

The Queen's always had a bit of the socialist about her, but still, the news that she is seeking to develop some land at her Scottish estate, Balmoral, to be earmarked for development for social housing projects, comes as something of a surprise.

However, the Daily Telegraph's Mandrake column is claiming today that the monarch wants to allow land at Balmoral, her privately owned estate in Aberdeenshire, to be used for low-cost properties to help local people get a foot on the housing ladder.

"Land has been earmarked near the Prince of Wales’s retreat at Birkhall for the unique development, which is being overseen by Hank Dittmar, the chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community," says the Telegraph, adding that the houses would be 'part-built by the families themselves' to help keep costs down.